SUMMARYThis paper reviews the association between bipolar disorder (BD) and metabolic syndrome (MetS), focusing on the etiopathogenetic and pathophysiological aspects of this association and on the recommendations for preventing and managing MetS in patients with BD. We conducted a nonsystematic literature review by means of a MEDLINE search. The exact causal relationship between MetS and BD is still uncertain. The side effects of psychotropic medications may be a major contributor to the increased rates of MetS in patients with BD. Other factors such as unhealthy lifestyles, common neuroendocrine and immunoinflammatory abnormalities, and genetic vulnerability may also play a role in explaining the high rates of MetS in BD. Strategies to prevent and treat the MetS and its cardiovascular consequences in patients with BD include accurate screening and monitoring of the patient and appropriate psychoeducation on weight control, healthy nutrition, and increased physical activity. When deciding on pharmacological therapy for the treatment of the components of the MetS, drug interactions and the effects of the medications on mood must be taken into account.

No abstract

No abstract

Paranoid and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, loss of appetite and hypersomnia tended to be found in successive episodes. However, the moderate correlations of the symptoms across two depressive recurrences suggested that clinical presentations in bipolar depression may not be predicted by symptom profiles presented in previous episodes.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) has been associated with high rates of general medical comorbidities (GMC) and medical risk factors. There have been scarce reports about this prevalence in Brazilian subjects with BD. Objective: Describe the prevalence of GMC in a sample of BD type I patients. Methods: Clinical records of 195 patients with BD type I were reviewed for identification of GMC. Patients with and without GMC were compared using the Mann-Whitney nonparametric test and the chi-Square test. Results: Sixty-three percent of patients had at least one medical comorbidity. The most prevalent conditions were: migraine (31.8%), hypothyroidism (24.1%), hypertension (11.3%), traumatic brain injuries (10.3%), asthma (9.7%), epilepsy (8.2%), diabetes (5.1%), stroke (2.1%) and hyperthyroidism (1%). Age and duration of illness were positively associated with the presence of GMC (p < 0.001). Discussion: In our study, in accordance with previous reports, the majority of patients presented at least one general medical disorder. The principal limitation of this study is the fact that diagnose of GMC was made based on self-report. There are scarce studies addressing GMC in the Brazilian population with BD and this report can contribute to improve diagnostic vigilance, assessment, treatment planning and decrease the burden associated with BD.